I got badly caught at the top of Kicking Horse last year. Couldn't see much past the end of the board and then boom, I was face down in bottomless powder. Trying to do push ups in a swimming pool is a very apt description.

I did manage to roll over on my back which solved the suffocation problem and I eventually got turned around so that my board was downhill.

My problem (and the advice I'm seeking) is that when I finally managed to stand up on my board, I was still waist deep. I knew that I was on a fairly steep pitch (although I couldn't see 5 feet) and that if I could just get sliding, then I'd be able to pull the nose up. Problem was, I just couldn't get an movement started at all. I tried jumping, I tried skootchin and I just kept losing my balance and falling over. And starting all over again. Even with the board pointing straight down the fall line, I couldn't get stand and move.

Eventually, with all my thrashing, I got to a place where the powder wasn't as bottom less and I was able to stand up and not be waist deep. So, with a bit of skootching, I was able to get going.

So my question is: all 190lbs of me was on a 161 SL. I would have thought that would be enough board for support my weight without sinking waist deep. What technique could I have used or is this just one of those situations where I just had to swim out to a better spot? I was on a steep pitch on a black run....it was just sooooo deep!